Jamaat Attendees from Assam to Face Legal Action if they don't Report by Monday Evening: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Dispur, April 6, 2020:

Action will be taken against the Tablighi Jamaat attendees from Assam if they do not report by the today evening, confirmed Assam's Health and Finance Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Speaking on the lines of the Jamaat attendees from the state while addressing the press in Guwahati, Sarma said, "556 attendees have been sourced by the Central Government — 275 have been sourced from local surveillance 831. 50 have not returned and 100 are not related to to Jamaat. The “target” was set at 617:, said Sarma.

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He added that and 491 samples have been collected so far, and 128 samples are yet to be related. If in case these 128 attendees do not show up by evening on Monday, they will be penalized under relevant sections of the law. Sarma informed that the authorities have held discussions with the leaders of the Markaz who have appealed everyone to come forward and get tested for the COVID-19. He further expressed hope that they all will be tracked down by the evening and their samples will be tested at the earliest.

From tomorrow, the Markaz attendees who come out will be screened, but they will also be punished as there is a provision in the Disaster Management Act under which they will be punished, he said.

In the same presser, Sarma informed that the Government of Assam, in a bid to step up its fight against the virus, will release a fund of Rs 50 lakh to all the district administrations in the state, so as to be able to fight the virus on a micro level.

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"Talking on the lines of protective equipment, Sarma said 3,941 PPE kits, N95 masks number 36,487 and 7,28,022 triple-layer masks are available" Sarma said, a adding that in the evening, 500 more PPE kits will reach the administration.

1,445 cases out of a total of 4,067 cases in India are related to Tablighi Jamaat gathering, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said on Monday during the daily press briefing. “693 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 4,067 in India out of which 1,445 cases are related to Tablighi Jamaat,” Agarwal said at the daily press briefing here. The Joint Secretary said that 76 per cent cases are males and 24 per cent are females.

Agrawal has also said that officials have recorded 109 deaths from the virus in India thus far.  73 per cent deaths are related to males and 27 per cent to females, he said.

Assam, meanwhile, has reported as many as 26 cases of the novel coronavirus within a week. Out of those, 25 have connections to the Nizamuddin Markaz gathering which took place in mid March of 2020 and saw the attendance of several foreign preachers. Apart from Assam, Jamaat attendees in Manipur and Arunachal have also tested positive for the virus. Two from the state of Tripura have also tested positive thousands of kilometres away from their homeland in Rajasthan.

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